From Idea to Published Book ... How to self-publish the easy
way!
I've been involved in publishing for over a decade now as an
author, editor, and project manager; however, it wasn't until
just a few years ago that I decided to move into
self-publishing. Indeed, my first few projects involved
consulting for others and, now, I am involved in my own,
personal projects. It has taken a while for me to come back
around to my own works, but in the process I learned how to
minimize time and expenses in producing a book and getting it to
market.
This short article will not try to explain every aspect of book
publishing in detail, but it will brush on a few of the
important topics. I have a few other book projects in the making
that will detail the book self-publishing process; however, in
the mean time, this should give you a good basis of
understanding.
--- The Idea ---
The most difficult part of creating your manuscript is deciding
on the topic. We all have ideas. It's part of our being. Ideas
pop in and out of our heads all day long; however, we usually
dismiss many of them as useless or too simple to be of use. You
would be surprised at how many people want "simple" and
easy-to-understand information! Readers want books that teach,
inform, and entertain.
When you sit down and really think about all you've learned
throughout your life, you'll be amazed at how much you really
know! Your life experiences alone could fill a library! Even if
you feel that you don't have any knowledge that would be of
interest to anyone, you can start small. Research a market that
interests you, find your competition, learn all that you can
about a specific subject, and then write about it. Your ideas
are important, as your knowledge and point-of-view are unique
and of interest to others.
--- Planning the Product ---
I always suggest keeping your book concise and informative. This
provides a small footprint, yet it also allows your readers to
purchase your book at a reasonable price. Keep it around 100
pages, which, once in book format, equals about 50, two-sided
pages.
The core content of the manuscript consists of a title page,
copyright, table of contents, figure and table references,
acknowledgements, forwards, content, appendices, index, and back
page. This list is the basic minimum requirements to support the
information necessary to present your book and its content. Of
course, you can add other items such as a glossary and a
preface, but such inclusions are at your discretion.
It is best to produce your book in the standard 5.5" by 8.5"
format in both print and PDF. I always suggest PDF to my
publishing clients because it is one of the few cross-platform
(i.e., Mac, PC, PDA, and UNIX-based machines) document
distribution products available today and it is the most
popular.
--- The Manuscript ---
Once you've focused on an idea, you'll have to create an outline
or table of contents to define the content. The best way I've
found to do this is to break the idea down into blocks of
contiguous information --- similar to assembling a pyramid. Step
through your idea and ensure that you are building from, for
example, the most general information to the most specific
information. Check the outline several times, and have a friend
review it, to ensure that gaps are filled in appropriately.
You can actually over-rewrite your work to the point of
frustration and burn-out. Ensure that you've planned and
researched appropriately to provide a solid foundation. In this
way you can develop a first draft and then perform substantive
and grammar edits. Then, perform a technical edit and a second
draft. Once the second draft is complete, move into a final copy
edit then, once you produce galleys or a sample version of the
finished book, perform a proof read. Don't rework any of the
core steps of document development, but ensure that each step is
completed with quality in mind. This ensures a solid product in
a short amount of time. If you would like to update or add to
the information in your first release, provide a follow-up
revision.
--- ISBN and Copyright ---
Once you've started your manuscript, order your group of ISBNs.
You can sign up for your ISBNs at http://www.isbn.org for about
$240 for 10 ISBNs. However, additional fees can be imposed based
on express orders. This is why I say, order the ISBNs while
you're writing the manuscript so that you can afford to wait the
10 days for standard, free, delivery.
You will have to convert your ISBN numbers to EAN barcodes to
apply to the back page of your book. The barcode must consist of
the ISBN you assigned to the book as well as the coded pricing
of the book. You can have a vendor generate the barcodes for
between $3 (http://www.toupin.com/serv_writing.asp) and $20 per
barcode or you can download and use the Barcode Maker
(http://hem.passagen.se/sams/barcode.htm) to generate your own
barcodes. For the price, it will pay for itself in just a few
ISBNs for your books.
Once you have assigned one of your ISBNs to a book, you can
register it in Books In Print
(http://www.booksinprint.com/bip/). This is how booksellers are
able to access your information and sell your book through their
outlets. Additionally, you'll want to register your
manuscript-in-progress with the Library of Congress Cataloguing
in Publication (http://cip.loc.gov/cip/ecipp14.html). This
registers your book for access by libraries and government
archives. You will be e-mailed the "CIP data" to be printed on
the copyright page following the heading "Library of Congress
Cataloging-in-Publication Data".
To protect your work and ideas, copyrighting your book is a
simple and inexpensive process. There are actually several
different methods of protecting your work including government
and commercial organizations. The primary sites are the
government copyright office (http://www.copyright.gov/forms/)
and WriteSafe (http://www.writesafe.com/).
--- Production ---
There are many different ways to produce your books; however,
costs range from a $1,000 initial setup plus the purchase of a
few hundred copies down to no setup fees and pay-as-you-go. The
final choice is yours, but my direction involved a local
printing company and a pay-as-you-go scheme. With this approach,
reduced initial costs are reflected back to the readers and your
profit potential is seen immediately.
Three places that I've experimented with to print some of my
books include Kinko's (http://www.kinkos.com/), InstantPublisher
(http://instantpublisher.com/pricing.htm), and Mimeo
(http://www.mimeo.com/). Of course, use these for starters to
experiment with your books. Eventually, you'll find the right
bindery for your needs. You can locate many publishers via
Google.com or AllTheWeb.com using keywords such as "online
printing", "book printing", and "print on demand", but once you
get some experience behind you, the choice will be much easier.
--- Marketing and Distribution ---
Once you assign and register your ISBN for your manuscript, it
becomes available to the multitude of book stores around the
globe including Amazon, Borders, Barnes&Noble, and various other
major book sellers. Now that you have your book out there, the
trick is to have people purchase the book and have book stores
stock copies on their shelves.
To have the book stores purchase in quantity, you'll have to
devise a solid marketing plan to their acquisitions personnel.
In many cases, book stores will simply sell your book to their
customers as it is requested, but if you can get them to buy in
bulk, that's greater exposure and sales for you!
You can also license out the content to various professional
speakers. Speakers are always looking for ways to provide
quality information specific to their presentations. They might
use your content in a handout, or perhaps for sale in the back
of the room. Locate those speakers that fit within your audience
and contact them. Find out their needs for their next
presentation and work out a deal for them to resell your books.
I've had many speakers use my articles in their presentations
and the exposure and feedback has been overwhelming.
Of course, you should always locate affiliates to help sell your
books. One way is to offer them a percentage of the gross sales
or sell them copies of the books at a discount. Either way, you
will have "agents" out pushing your books for you to make money
for them, as well as for you.
Always provide a web site that boasts the benefits of your book.
Use a book cover maker to create a book image on the web site.
One quality book cover creator is called CoverFactory
(http://www.ans2000.com/a2k_coverfactory.php) and provides
numerous capabilities to generate professional looking covers
for books, software, and services.
Free content is an important way to bring people to your site
and let people know about your book. You can provide rewritten
excerpts from your book as articles and submit them to various
article announcement lists, press release sites, zines, and
directories. I've been able to locate and associate with over
1,000 sites and lists that accept and publish my articles. This
provides outstanding coverage for my sites, services, and
products.
--- Sales and Returns ---
Since you are the publisher, you now have to determine how to
handles sales. It's important to define how you will handle
direct sales and shipping, bulk sales, and affiliates. You want
to ensure that your sales go smoothly as well as provide enough
of a margin so that everyone profits.
When collecting funds, it's important to accept credit cards
through one of the popular merchant vendors. To minimize
expenses and provide a common and secure payment mechanism, I
use StormPay (http://www.stormpay.com) and PayPal
(http://www.paypal.com). Since people have their likes and
dislikes of online payment vendors, using both allows many
different types of users to submit payments. Of course, you must
always determine how to handle returns as part of a quality
customer service program.
--- What's next? ---
Obviously, the information provided here is merely an overview
of the entire process. However, I am working on a book that
provides all of the details of producing your own book under
your own imprint. Publishing provides excellent return
monetarily as well as through enhanced self-esteem. There is
quite a feeling that comes with getting your message out there
and having people return positive feedback. Perhaps, once you
self-publish a few of your own titles, you can work on
publishing other authors and open a full-fledged publishing
house. In this day, such a venture is not unheard of!
--- About the Author ---
Edward B. Toupin is an author, publisher, life-strategy coach,
counselor, Reiki Master, technical writer, and PhD Candidate
living in Las Vegas, NV. Among other things, he authors books,
articles, and screenplays on topics ranging from career success
through life organization and fulfillment. Check out some of his
recent print and electronic books as well as his articles
covering various life-changing topics!